英语专业美国历史重点总结

一．

The reasons of exploration

Purpose:

searching

for

fortune,

Christianity

spread,

escaping

from

political

oppression

and

so

on.

1 Economics

2 Renaissance----

文艺复兴

3 Religious Reformation

Religious Reformation:(1) Martin Luther (1517)(2)John Calvin(3)King Henry

Ⅷ

the differences between Puritans and Catholics:

Puritans:

1)God

was

incomprehensible

to

man,

and

the

power

of

God

was

all-knowing,

yet

hidden

and

unknown to man.

2)It

was

convinced

that

human

beings

were

predestined

by

God

before

they

were

born.

So

no

good church could save anyone and nobody knew if he or she was God's elect.

3)It was believed that everyone had a calling, which was given by God. The success of one's work

or the prosperity in his calling was the sign of being God's elect.

4)It was concluded that the Bible was the authority of their doctrine.

附加

1. Individualism

The relationship of man and God

2. Hardworking

Puritan believed richness and success are the symbols of God

’

s chosen people

3. Education

To understand God

’

s will, one must be literary

Catholics:

1)God could be reached through his representative on the earth-the Pope.

2)A person could confess his or her sin, do good works and give money to the church and buy

back his or her soul.

二

The Colonial America

New England: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

三

the American Revolution

Three Principles

：

Popular sovereignty

；

Equality before the Law

；

Constitutional rights and rules of

law

Significance

：

1)It shows that in a just war, a weak nation can defeat a strong one.

2)It

was

a

historic

event:

by

smashing

the

fetters

of

British

colonial

rule,

the

American

people

gained independence, which gave capitalism a chance for freer development.

3)English was separated into American English and British English.

the 2nd Continental Congress

：

It was held in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1775. The delegates from the

12 colonies with the exception of Rode Island resolved that

1)the United Colonies should be dependent.

2)The

Congress

founded

a

Continental

Army

and

Navy

under

the

command

of

George

Washington, a Virginian militia commander.

3)It also appointed a committee to draft a formal declaration

“

(drafted by Thomas Jefferson, assisted by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

Major

Leaders

：

George

Washington

He

was

one

of

the

founding

fathers

of

the

American

Republic.

He

was

the

Commander-in-Chief

of

the

Continental

Army

in

the

War

of

Independence against the British colonial rule and the first President of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson

He

was

one

of

the

founding

fathers

of

the

American

Republic.

He

was

the

chief

author

of

the

Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.

Benjamin Franklin

He

was

one

of

the

founding

fathers

of

the

American

Republic.

He

participated

in

writing

the

Declaration of Independence and making the U.S. Constitution.

James

Madison:t

he

fourth

President

of

the

United

States,he

was

called

father

of

the

Constitution

Alexander Hamilton:

the first United States Secretary of the Treasury,a Founding Father,

soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers,a co-write of

federal paper

The Young Republic

全国人民代表大会

National People's Congress

（

NPC

）

人大代表：

deputy to the NPC

全国政治协商大会

The 3rd session of The 11th )National Political Consultative Conference

特别行政区：

Special

Administrative

Region

自治区：

Autonomous

[

< br>?

:'t

?

n

< br>?

m

?

s]

Regions

of

China

直辖市：

municipality [mju:,nisi'p?l

?

ti]

少数民族：

national minority

Three branches:

Legislative branch :

It is made up of elected representatives from all of the states (the number of

districts in a state is determined by a count of the population taken every 10 years)

Two chambers: House of Representative---

435 members who serve two-year terms. They

must

be

25

years

old,

citizens

of

the

U.S

for

at

least

7

years

Senate--- 100 lawmakers who serve six-year terms (staggered). They must be 30 years old,

citizens of the U.S for at least 9 years. Each state, regardless of population, has two senators, only

1/3

of

the

senators

elected

every

2

years

Powers:

make

federal

laws,

levy

federal

taxes

and

declare war or put foreign treaties into effec

the executive branch

the judicial branch

The Federal courts :11 federal courts, 91 federal district courts

the Supreme Court

1. a chief justice and eight associate

justices.

2.

the

judicial

review

power,

the

power

to

determine

whether

congressional

legislation

or

executive action violates the Constitution.

Pay

more

attention

:Beginning:the

idea

of

checks

and

balances

as

a

way

of

restricting

governmental

power

and

preventing

its

abuse

was

first

provided

in

the

Federalist

Papers

co-authored by Alexander Hamilton of New York and James Madison of Virginia written between

1787 and 1788.

Two main parties:

he Democratic Party,the Republican Party

The essence of Constitution:

separation of powers ,check and balance ,federalism

五：

Westward Movement

：

1 From foundation to 1830

2 From 1830 to the end of the 19th century Because Jackson was elected as American President in

1830

The first period

；

Background: after foundation, the restriction of westward was abolished by the

British government

，

So people can cross through Appalachian and the Mississippi1

；

In 1803

，

America bought Louisiana from France at the price of $$15 million, totaling area of 830 thousand

square miles, because

the king Napoleon was engaged in the European war.

2 between1810 and 1819, Florida was handed over to America from Spanish.

The second period

：

Reasons:1

President Jackson

’

policies President Andrew Jackson's Case

for the Removal ActFirst Annual Message to Congress (

印地安人排除法案

)

2 Two directions of its territory expansion at this period

(1) In south-west, America annexed

Texas in 1845 and snatched half of Mexico in the war of

1848.

(2) In north-west, America caught

Oregon after a long negotiation with Britain.

At last, the two direction merged together at California, which marked the total

occupation of

the whole west.

3 Gold mine discovered in California stirred up the immigration.

4 The Civil War (1861-186

In 1867, America bought Alaska (the last frontier) from Russia at the price of $$7.2 million, the

area of which equals two of the original 13 states.

In 1894

，

the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by America at Honolulu, and in 1898, after the

war between America and Spanish, the former merged Hawaii Islands.

Significance

：

1

A process of territorial and immigration expansion, a complete realization of the

melting pot.

2 The development of economics and technology

(1) From the agricultural nation to the industrialized nation

(2) From the industrialized nation to high-tech nation

3 Manifestation of painstaking entrepreneurship (

创业

)

America pioneers

4 A bloody history of massacring Indians

六

The Civil War

Slavery system

:The Southern need slavery to

support their economy.

;he key debate between the North and South is whether slavery should be permitted in the Western

territories.

Economic

factors

:Two

different

regions

between

the

South

and

North

in

economic,

political

social views.

In 1860, the election of Abraham Lincoln as president was viewed as a threat to

slavery and ignited the war.

Political

Factors

:North:

need

a

central

government

to

build

an

infrastructure

of

roads

and

railways, so as to protect its economic interest and control the nation

’

s currency.

South: no need to strength it. And a strong central government may interfere with slavery.

七

Reconstruction

;

Three major aspects:

1 restoration of the Union